01.20.11: dinner (Moroccan chicken and preserved Meyer lemons)

Moroccan-Style Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Capers

It begins with a mea culpa. I thought that preserving Meyer lemons would be foolish. They’re slightly sweet, I thought, they are too floral to be packed in salt and preserved like yellow pickles. The wife disagreed. I told her to find a preparation or commentary about preserving Meyers and within all of five minutes she had found several, including the one we used from The Gourmet Cookbook. The tome claims that the floral delicate nature of the Meyers makes them especially apt for preservation.

Who knew?

Moroccan-Style Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Capers

About a week later, stuck with some chicken thighs and no good ideas, we simultaneously thought to press the new lemons into service. I assumed that the cookbook that had the citrus mummification procedure would have at least one recipe for them, and the above Moroccan chicken is one such entry. They require olives to accompany the lemons, but E isn’t always a fan so I subbed capers in the briny little green thing category and we didn’t miss a step. What’s so interesting is that it’s the peel of the lemons that goes into the pan, not the flesh (the author recommends saving them for Bloody Marys). The rinds are soft and bursting with flowery citrus essence that you’d have to zest a dozen lemons to have otherwise.

A batch of these Meyers is more than sufficient to make several such dishes, so spending some time making a crazy homemade foodstuff means that you have a crazy add-in for weeks of culinary adventure. Until next time, friends, cook on!

UPDATE: This recipe can be found at Epicurious if you want to try it yourself.

*Just* finished putting up a batch of these since a family member brought over a whole bag of lemons a week ago. I’ve scanned tons of recipes and ended up using one from a Moroccan woman. I have to wait six weeks to try them but know it’s worth it. This chicken recipe sounds excellent — guess I’ll have to give it a whirl when my lemons are done :)